Tuesday, June 2, 2015

In April, I took a painting workshop from Ray Roberts in Carmel. We had perfect sunny weather for plein air painting. On the last day of the workshop we painted at Rocky Point, located between Carmel and Big Sur. We ate lunch at the restaurant on the cliffs with a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. I painted some small studies on site and then created the painting above back at my studio.

Ray was talking to me about the warm reflected light on the rocks in the shadows. I always think of shadows as being cool, but you could see the warmth in the shadows. The number 1 lesson from Ray was to get your shadow shapes in first, when painting plein air.

While I was painting the cliffs and ocean, Peggi Kroll Roberts was painting me. She was working in goauche - I believe starting with a pencil sketch and laying in big areas of color to represent the different values. How cool is that to be painted by Peggi Kroll Roberts!